Re: Feedback, Mercedes and Boogie for Beginners

[Kim Corbet <kcorbet@post.cis.smu.edu>]

> >>...can they really achieve the variety I'm used to with a mesa 
>boogie???
> 
> You're just starting... and you have a Boogie.  Way to go!  You've learnt
> the important bit already - buy The best kit!  I take it you loop using a
> JamMan..?
..........I've been lucky to have played with some great guitarists in 
Dallas and the amp I've always loved was Joe Lee's Boogie (he probably 
has one of everything they've put out the last 20 years).  So, when I had 
a chance to pick one up used for 4 bills, I jumped.  I have a jambooty 
and boomerang and, based on Kim's description of the Plex, I had to order 
one of those, too.  I love using different devices because they all, as 
you so aptly point out, have their unique capabilities.  Sometimes, if 
I'm using keyboards, guitar and an acoustic source, I like bussing 
everything into a Mackey and building separate loops that can stand alone 
or overlap.  I use volume pedals to fade or bail as the need arises.

Some have asked about the accordion loops.  Well, it's no different from 
trombone or vocal loops...I found a great used instrument with built-in 
pick-ups in a Portland, Ore pawn shop.  I grew up playing accordion, but 
never really liked the sound of the bass/chords, so I primarily use the 
piano side with its great variety of stops.  One possibility...get a 
chordal rhythm or sustain cloud going with one of the 2-octave patches and 
pick up a melodica to add a few counterlines (on the second looper).  
Since 
the jamham is cleaner, I usually reserve it for the foreground.  Well, it 
just depends on how I want to blend the different timbres really.  I 
might fade one of the loops as I add trombone lines on top, often through 
a whammy II harmonizing pedal (a fine toy for turning a single horn into 
a section) and reverb/chorus of a Lexicon LXP-5.  

Ah, the black hole of modern technology...and I definitely agree, get the 
best sounding gear you can afford, look for stuff that most sounds like 
"you".  It'll speak to you and let you know it's right for your music.

somehow.